Exodus
by CodeCid
Summary: Andromeda, with a nuka-cola flavor.
1. Chapter 1

Earth.

It carried a special meaning to humanity. Earth was-is the cradle of humanity. Humanity destroyed said cradle, ideology by ideology, radioactive hellscape upon radioactive hellscape, nuke by nuke, bullet by bullet, spite upon ever more spite.

Captain Jane Shepard did not have fond memories of Earth. It was still a radioactive hellscape, left that way for the most part despite the ability to make the planet whole again with G.E.C.K. The walls kept most of the wastes' fell creatures out of the habitable parts, made so by the will of the Founders and the blood of the millions in the generations that followed in the name of the Great Game. The Darwinian game. The game all of their ancestors played, and survived-the only game that mattered. The game that made humanity great, according to the Founders and their Companions.

Jane survived that game, as did her brother of course; humans in general had to serve mandatory military service on the planet for two years. To this day, casualty rates per annum remain around 13%, whether torn apart by deathclaws or swarmed by feral ghouls.

Which was why most people had large families. Breeding was considered a Darwinian necessity. With cloning, synth technology, G.E.C.K. and the guidance of the Companions, it did not take humanity long to number in the billions again. Then tens of billions, hundreds of billions, trillions of people, including synths, super mutants and ghouls. Numbers enough to wage war against the accursed aliens on Mothership Zeta who, according to the Lone Wanderer, extracted nuclear codes from an American officer the day the nuclear apocalypse began.

Not that it excused humanity for their self-destruction, but a useful common enemy to rally against for centuries after the disappearance of the Founders. It didn't matter as much after first contact with the Citadel species.

And, more importantly, it was not going to save them from the Reapers.

"EDI, where is he?"

A cool mechanical voice answered, "Captain, you're in incarceration, I cannot-"

"Authorization comes from the highest authority of our realm," John answered, putting down the barbell. It was pointless exercise. He rated above ten, near as strong as the Berserker himself as modern humans could be. "And remember, thou shalt not, by action or inaction, do anything to harm humanity."

EDI snorted, as much as it was possible for a mechanical voice to reproduce that sound, "And you know that I'm the only AI to have been completely unshackled from the Four Laws, John. Excuse me if I don't want my core overloaded with sulfuric acid by my overseers."

"It is handwritten," Jane said, lifting up a letter for the security cameras. "Signed by the President himself and the Supreme Court of the Companions."

"Verifying credentials, checked. Authorization granted. Security cameras disabled. Lieutenant General, retired, Alec Ryder will be present in five minutes," EDI reported.

"Good, dismissed," Jane said.

"Thank you EDI," John said, winking at the cameras.

"John, before Alec arrives, are you sure?"

"We've discussed this a hundred times."

"Twenty three times, exactly," Jane said. She hated the unknown, the imprecise. It was the physicist in her, she supposed. Had John not joined the armed forces, as a career choice, she would have stayed in academia.

But John, her darling younger brother, was cursed with biotics, and was handpicked to be a Republican commando. She would be damned before she left him helpless again, helpless as he was during the eezo leak that nearly killed their mother and the unborn John. So Jane joined as a naval officer – not difficult given her advanced degree – and rose through the ranks.

"I love my nephews and nieces. I don't want them to die."

"They won't," John said. "Their adopted parents have it well in hand. We are going to find the Founders. We will gather our Citadel allies. Together, we will defeat the Reapers. I'll marry, and watch my children grow old. Are you sure I can't convince you likewise?"

"If you ever studied probabilities, lottery economics, physics, even basic mathematics-"

"When has that ever stopped me from killing our enemies?" John grinned. "When has that ever stopped us from stopping the Reapers?"

"That was one Reaper. Two at most if you count the unfinished one with the Collectors. Their warships number in the millions, possibly more, and those are only the blips in dark space approaching us right now. All of the Citadel and Quarians put together and we don't have a fifth of their numbers. Even with all of our traps and contingency plans, we will not take down more than a fourth of their numbers. Even with the Founders, they will comfortably defeat us by a factor of three to one. Nuke our own planets while they're still on them, and they will still have the reserves to kill us and turn us. John Shepard, our species is fucked. The Founders-"

"Did not raise us from post-apocalyptic barbarism in vain," John snarled. "Jane Shepard, we will win. We will survive as all of our ancestors have, no matter the cost. And I am not happy that you would throw my niece into the unknown because you do not realize it. But, as I said before, I respect the need for a contingency plan, and our species needs a contingency plan."

Jane sighed. It was a pointless conversation.

A couple of silent minutes went by, disturbed only by the waves in the fish tank in the so-called jail-cell they've been put in for destroying the Batarian relay. The tea was left cold on the coffee table. The news channel on the small TV continued to exhort the people for maximum military production, though the people did not yet know what for.

For they would know soon enough, anyway, and humanity would do what they did best: survive, no matter the cost. Adapt, mutate, evolve, survive. Or die, as was most likely the case, but even Jane could hope, hope as John hoped.

The door bell rang.

"Enter," Jane said.

Greying hair, but eyes sparkling like a man in his prime. His body moved like the body of a man who knew what he was doing. Turned towards the two people in the room: potential threats, whether true or not. Eyes alert, vigilant: a survivor's eyes. Yes, it was partly why Jane chose Alec Ryder to champion humanity in its exodus. Why the Illusive Man, damn him, chose Alec Ryder.

The siblings saluted him. "General," John said, his long legs striding to take him, in a heartbeat, in handshaking distance. Alec was a not a small man but John still towered over him. "Heard a lot about you. Welcome to our cell, such as it is."

Alec grinned. "Not much of one, it seems."

"General Ryder," Jane offered her hand as well. "A pleasure, though we only know each other by reputation."

"Disgraced," Alec pointed out, "and call me Alec. Anyone who saved the galaxy, twice, deserves to call me by my first name."

Jane grimaced. "Unfairly disgraced, and call me Jane."

"John," John said.

"Pleasure is mine. So, how can I be of service to two of the most powerful humans in the galaxy?"

"… That's just it. You're not here to talk about our galaxy," Jane said.

Alec Ryder froze. Jane saw him assess the situation; she nodded and held up a hand. Yes, we know. No, old man, John will rip your limbs out and feed you your eyeballs within oh-five seconds if you try? You're too close to him right now and he is the stronger biotic. Besides, you really think you can escape from this place alive if you succeed?

"How?" Alec said, sitting down on the sofa as though nothing happened.

"Who do you imagine some of your benefactors to be, Alec Ryder? Enough resources to build four Ark ships and that bloated superstructure?" Jane sat down as well. John stood between Alec and the door. "And whose woman do you think Liara T'Soni is? Who do you think chose you, Pathfinder?"

"So you know. Does the Republic?"

"Only the highest authorities, and they all have suicide implants, including us."

"… And why do you have suicide implants?"

"Alec, I know you can keep a secret. I would not have recommended you otherwise. You are also smart. Until you, unshackling an AI of the Four Laws of Robotics encrypted, programmed and embedded into all of our AIs by the Lone Wanderer himself was considered impossible."

"Believe me, it's a lot harder than it sounds, and I built on the work of those who tried before me."

"Not the point. You have, as of this moment, been given access to the most closely guarded secret of the Republic, but it's one you heard before, and probably thought crazy."

Alec snorted. "All due respect, Captain, but-"

"The Reapers are very real, Alec. See the attached document on your pip-boy. Gods, you still use 7004? That was outdated a decade ago!"

"Better security," Alec said. "No one remembers the codes to decrypt them. Humor me for a moment. What if you, the President, and the Companions are all, I don't know, wrong?"

"We aren't, and we're betting the survival of our species on it."

"Then… the only conclusion I can draw is, that as far as we know, the Reapers are real, and they outnumber or out-tech us by such a wide margin that the resources put into our exodus wouldn't make a difference in the outcome of the war. You can't expect me, in good conscience, to take materials away from the war effort."

"It won't," Jane shrugged. "A lot of raw materials, some good people, but we have a lot more of those, just not enough to make a difference in the coming war anyway. Besides, the arks aren't combat-ready."

"Not enough to make a difference," John said. "But we'll win with or without the resources going into Exodus. On that, you have my word, Alec Ryder."

"You're also saying I wouldn't make a difference."

"Not enough of one," Jane said. "Not in war. Not this one, at least. Whether it goes our way or the Reapers'."

"Why are you telling me this?" Alec said. "If the Reapers are coming, I want to stay."

"No. That will not do," Jane said. "Also find attached the signed executive order from the President, soldier."

"… We're exiled? We don't get a choice? To fight for Earth, humanity and the Founders?"

"No. You are exiled. You are forbidden from fighting for Earth, humanity and the Founders. You are ordered to head to Andromeda, other than that, you have only one order: survive at all costs, and make sure humanity does as well. Shuttles are on the way as we speak to deliver humanity's most priceless cultural heritage to the Hyperion's cargo bays."

Alec sucked in a breath. "You're serious? But the Reapers, if they are as formidable as you say, will find out."

"No they won't," Jane said. "All the people who worked on the project are either on those ships or they've received suicide implants. They also have people around them who will kill them before they let the Reapers capture them. Already, the manual laborers are dead, even the alien ones. Lucky we used mostly robots. All logistics were arranged through such layers of shell corporations that no one can track down the resources. Besides, once the Hyperion reaches the edge of the galaxy, all non-essential power will be shut down. Tomb ship strategy. Almost no energy signatures to detect."

"Who are our benefactors? Who do you work for?"

"That is not something you need to know, and I work only for humanity… and my daughter."

Realization struck Alec's face. "… Custom-ordered cryo tube 1H, H for humanity… the first baby to travel across dark space… she's yours. And I was so against putting a baby onboard, too."

"She is," Jane's face contorted with pain, such pain as only a mother can feel losing her child. One of the worst, and probably the worst kind of pain a human could feel. "Mine, and Kaidan's, blessed be his memory. The other reason you were called here today, Alec, was for my daughter. I know I have no right to ask, and I know you have no reason to answer truthfully, but… I don't know who else I'd entrust my daughter's future with. It should be the one I trust the future of our species to."

"Adopt her, you mean?" Alec grimaced. "My children would tell you that I am not the dad of the year, and I'm a little old for-"

"No, it has to be you."

"John, don't you have children?"

"I do," John said. "But I believe we'll win, despite it all. I have faith in our cause, and our species."

"… Captain, it would be an honor to adopt your daughter," Alec said, smiling a little. He could tell this was not a battle he'd win, anyway. "It would bring me some joy to raise a child again, joy I never thought I'd feel again."

"My medical information has been forwarded to you, and Kaidan's. Family history, too. Thank you, Pathfinder."

"I have a condition, Captain."

"Anything."

"Win, survive, no matter the cost."

Jane smiled. "The Reapers will not forget us. That much, I promise."

Yes, the Reapers would rue the day they did not stomp out humanity in its cradle. That much, Jane could promise.

The Shepards entertained their guest for dinner. They found much they admired in one another, and greatly enjoyed each other's company. It was too bad they would soon be separated by near six centuries and a galaxy.

The night sky above the executive suite of the Lucky 38 shone bright, and Jane wondered which star would light the days of her daughter's world.

* * *

 _600 and some years and a galaxy away_

Alec was afraid.

He let the fear ride through him and over him. I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.

Only I will remain.

"Alec? Are you alright?" a Salarian doctor, Bora if he remembered correctly, said as he injected Alec with a cocktail of pick-me-up drugs. A Salarian doctor was put aboard the ship because Salarians recover from cryo quickest.

"Thank you doc, but I am well. Please, would you give me five minutes?" Alec said, getting up. "SAM, status of the four pods."

"Assuming the pods are the ones I think you're speaking of, perfectly healthy."

"Location, anomalies, time."

"A galaxy far, far-"

"No, seriously."

"And I've been thinking six centuries of the first joke I'd tell you," SAM chuckled.

"SAM…" Alec growled.

"Andromeda, Heleus Cluster. Anomalies, TBD. 634 years, five months, and 4 days since Exodus," SAM said, his tone every bit the soldier Alec Ryder was. "Naturally, your next question would be about Earth."

"Release communications logs from Milky Way, restricted access to the Pathfinder, authorization code: delta 58 root 3, Alec Ryder."

"Voice authorization verified. Displaying messages in order of importance."

"Importance?" Alec said. "By what algorithms – never mind, I'll look through them myself. Search keywords, the Founders, Earth, Shepard, Reapers."

"Playing most relevant message. From John Shepard to Alec Ryder, six months post-Exodus."

"Play," Alec said, dreading the message already.

"Hi Alec, this is John," a six hundred years ago John said. "By the time you hear this, I'll be dead, either by the Reapers or age. You guys are already radio-silent, and at the edge of the galaxy. Check on my niece for me, will you?"

The hologram of John showed him in fully geared in titanic war plates, armed and armored the same way he was when he slew Saren and Sovereign. Alec considered himself a fine soldier, but he had the same impression of John he had six centuries ago.

If ever humanity had a god of war, John was it.

"As you may have guessed, the Reapers are still tearing into us," John said, his smile faltering. "Station Luna has been obliterated. Earth no longer has a moon. The station commander set off every nuclear weapon he had before the Reapers could leave. Sol system has fallen, with only the Vaults intact. Our people resist, but… it only buys us time. The orbital shipyards and city-factories of Jupiter are in ruins. Nothing lives on the surface of Mars. Our death toll numbers already in the high tens of billions, and soon to number in the low hundreds of billions. A third of Battlefleet Vengeance and a fourth of the Home Fleet have been destroyed. Our enemies are without end. I've got to admit, it's worse than I'd expected… and that's even with every single one of our Founders at our side."

"The Founders," Alec muttered to himself. "Jane Shepard, you god among mere mortals."

"Oh, I should probably mention we found the Founders and Mothership Zeta two months ago. They're… really weird people, but incredibly resourceful. There's a reason the Cult of the Founders is humanity's biggest so-called religion, never mind there aren't that many of them. With them, I believe we could, just maybe, win."

"I wouldn't count on it, though, and we certainly won't win before you're out of communications range. Not to worry. Almost all the people who know about Project Exodus have been killed. Even the robots are scrap metal now. The Reapers, if they don't catch you in dark space, will never know of you."

Alec sighed in relief. So that was one worry out of the way, for now.

"We are definitely at the second extinction event horizon of our species, Alec. I didn't think much of it then, but now I'm glad we have a backup plan."

"John Shepard, report to the bridge right this instant!" a familiar voice, full of cold, scrutinizing fury, screamed over the background.

"Uh-oh, I think my sister found out about my curing the genophage," John winked. "The Salarians aren't happy, either, but I had to give the Krogans hope, a stake in the future. I wish I could give you hope, Alec, but I doubt we can give you any before you're out of range. For that, I apologize."

"John, what're you doing?!" a frantic voice, female. Through a rebreather, or a helmet. On a ship? It had to be a Quarian. A Quarian on the Normandy? The answer was obvious. The Quarian equivalent of a princess and the first Quarian to be named Hero of the Republic by the Senate: Tali Zorah. "Whatever are you doing in the comms room?! Never mind, I would seriously suggest hiding. Jane is not happy, more so than usual I mean. Even Vaa'nesh is cowering in a corner on the bridge. Have you ever seen a deathclaw cower? Liara's trying to calm her down but she is furious."

"Sure thing, Tali. Just saying hi to an old friend. Six hundred and some years old, in fact," John winked again. I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay. I got you a shotgun, just in case."

"Oh Tali, in the close confines of a ship? I can kill my sister in ten seconds flat with my bare hands. Don't worry and go. I love you!" John forced the Quarian out and shut the door behind her.

"Now, where was I… we're going to keep sending you guys updates until you guys are really out of range, or risk detection by the Reapers. Jane… is busy. The Founders are back, as I've told you a couple of months ago, and doing what they do best, but this is Jane's war. Even more so than it is my war. You know how she is: obsessive compulsive, perfectionist, always planning. The fate of the galaxy rests on her shoulders and this time, just this time, she might not be able to bear the weight," John said, turning somber. "And that, Alec, is the weight that will bear down on you. I hope you're equal to the task, my friend. Now I go answer to Jane for my actions and the Salarian Dalatrass for her forgiveness, hopefully in the opposite order since I think Jane might really murder me. We lost… a very good man today and a Salarian has been named Hero of the Republic."

"Pray for us in your dreams, Alec. Because we're going to need it."

"Message ends," SAM reported.

"Skip to the last one," Alec ordered.

A hologram. A woman with fiery red hair standing tall and proud. How very much like the old picts of the Courier, Alec thought. But of course it was Jane Shepard.

"Hello, Alec," she said. Alec saw the outlines of a sniper rifle, a slender but chained cavalry sabre and a pistol. Jane Shepard was going to war, and soon. "You will be out of communications range within the hour, I am told. How fitting. In an hour, the final battle for our galaxy, the last serious battle at any rate, will begin. As I speak, the Lone Survivor is rallying the troops, and the civilians in our Vaults stand ready to throw themselves at our nemesis. All of humanity and every ally we could muster… we're all gathering for Earth. But if you listened to John's updates, you'd know that. What you might not know is that the Lone Wanderer has been connected to Mothership Zeta's AI. Man and machine, truly one. It is now or never. All the pieces I could put on the board, I have put on the board. Forgive us, but John is… occupied, for which I'm sure he'd apologize himself if he could. I don't have to tell you why. We are about to die, and one tends to find comfort by reaffirming life. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but I am sorry. We are marching to our deaths. You must succeed in Andromeda, because home does not exist back in the Milky Way."

Six centuries and a galaxy away, but it did not get any easier to hear of the likely doom of humanity. A species that survived a nuclear apocalypse, clawed its way back up to the top, only to be slaughtered by the trillions. The most adaptable species in the galaxy, or so most humans liked to take pride in themselves. As it turned out, however, the game was rigged in the first place.

Not even the Courier, with her physics-defying luck, seemed to have turned the tides. Jane Shepard struck Alec as, if nothing else, a woman with an extremely solid grasp of reality. She had to have milked the most she could out of the Lone Survivor's charisma to gather as many allies as she could. The Lone Wanderer would have taken every practical measure he could have taken. The other Founders would have added their strength to the war effort. If that was not enough….

There was no safe harbor to return to. Alec did not find that as uncomfortable as he thought it might be. Alec knew that, always had. There was no going back. He knew that as soon as he got caught decrypting the secrets behind the Four Laws of Robotics. Nearly half of the Companions voted to put his head on a pike, and roast it for a feral deathclaw to eat. The others did not vote that way only because they were desperate. Any edge they could get against the Reapers, they would take.

"Pause message. Enough."

"… Would you not like to know more, Alec?"

"I know enough. I know what I've always known."

"We could have won."

"Maybe we did. It doesn't matter anymore. Give me your honest analysis: who won?"

"The balance of power was severely tilted against us… I would say low teens probability that we won, at best. That's assuming our weapon worked, in the end."

"Huh? What weapon?"

"The interim messages spoke of a weapon, left behind by the Protheans, that was missing one key component. The Shepards found it: the Citadel. The final battle for Earth was an all-in effort to get someone, anyone really, on the Citadel. No further contact has been established since for fear of communications intercept by Reapers in dark space."

"Huh, that gives me a little more hope. Like I said, though, it still doesn't matter. If they've been destroyed, too bad. If they survived, either everyone who knew about Exodus is dead or they didn't develop the tech to communicate with us for six centuries. Is Captain Dunn awake?"

"She is."

"Open a line."

"Calling. Will you… tell her about Earth?"

"Earth? What's that?" Alec shrugged. "Captain Dunn, are you recovering from cryo?"

"I'm on the bridge. Do you want me to go through ship function status? Or-"

"Not my purview, Captain. Anomalies, Habitat 7, alien presence."

"Scans aren't going through Habitat 7's atmosphere, no perceivable alien presence."

"… What? Habitat 7's supposed to have an atmosphere like Earth's atmosphere."

"I don't know what happened, but it doesn't. Not anymore. I need you to check out the planet. We need fuel, water, and food. In that order."

"Understood. I need to check a few things out. SAM, get the pathfinder team awake, and get-"

"Right away. The other pods you have requested are standing by."

Alec saw how far SAM came when he saw the two other pods he was going to request to see.

His soulmate, the love of his life, mother of his children. Alec did not know how long it would take, but by the time they found a cure, he vowed to have built a thriving civilization for her to enter. That was the least he could do for all the times he had failed to be there for her, and besmirching her reputation by association when his heresy, treason even, of developing SAM was discovered.

Alec would do that a hundred times over if SAM could cure her one day. Alec remembered the first time they'd met in Rio. Ellen was studying the mutated monstrosities of the Amazon. Alec was training for the N7 commando program, killing said mutated monstrosities in defense of the city that was home to humanity's largest pharmaceuticals laboratories and biochemical weaponry.

A harsh place, but beautiful in its own way. Alec and Ellen slew a gigantic carnivorous tree that was tearing its way through a squad of fresh recruits. Alec kept it tied down biotically while Ellen shoved a heavy flamer in one of its many mouths and dumped the entire tank's worth of flames inside. Not a very pleasant first encounter, but it turned out for the better in the end.

"Hang in there, darling," Alec whispered. He could have sworn he saw her eyebrows twitch, but that had to be a reflection of his subconscious wishes.

The other pod contained, in many ways, the very opposite of Ellen. The only baby to have been put into cryo for this journey, Hannah Shepard, named after her grandmother, was a symbol of the Andromeda Initiative.

Tabula rasa, blank slate, a new beginning, everything the Initiative stood for. The people who knew of her knew her as Hannah Ryder, an orphan of the Collector War that Alec adopted. Even Sara and Scott thought that was the truth. Alec had to admit he was pretty curious what their reactions would be if they found out their tiny baby sister was Jane Shepard's daughter.

They thought the adoption was a terrible idea, of course. They didn't need to say it aloud for Alec to know that. He had not been the most engaged of fathers. He brought his children's career to an end while developing SAM. Despite it all, they loved that they had such a precious new life to look after, never mind the little faith they had in Alec's ability to be a father.

For Alec, the Exodus was a second chance, and so was Hannah. Already, during the months it took to get out into dark space, taking care of Hannah together brought Alec and his children closer. That was not expected, but Alec was already grateful to Hannah. They even witnessed Hannah's first steps together. Alec was not there for Sara or Scott's first steps, not to mention countless other special occasions.

Such was the fate of a Republican commando: to fight so that others could watch their children take their first steps.

It was an added bonus that the sight of her asleep was so adorable. A twinge of regret nagged at Alec, for all the nights of the twins he missed.

"Sleep tight, Hannah," Alec murmured, and headed to the armory.

For his family, for the two hundred twenty eight thousand fifty and four souls aboard the Hyperion, and for his species, it was time to find a path.

* * *

Sara coughed, wheezing. It had been a long time since her lungs did what they were designed to do.

The cold confines of the cryo bay registered to her senses. She saw a familiar and most welcome sight, her twin brother.

"Easy breaths," Scott said, patting her on the back. "Welcome to Andromeda."

"Considering we weren't sure we'd wake up again," Sara said, taking the hand and getting out of her pod, "we really should have reconsidered the risks of this journey."

"Meh. We needed to leave the place. We did. End of story. Oh and before you ask, dad's in the bridge and Hannah's perfectly fine," Scott pulled his sister up and slapped her customized Pimp-boy 7074 on her left arm. "Come on, nerd. Time to check the servos on my power armor."

"I'm going to sabotage one secondary system. Hint hint, you'll smell it as much as you feel it. Now, where's our bundle of joy? I'm suffering withdrawal syndromes."

"Uh… we're going to have to do something about your dependency because she's number two hundred twenty eight thousand fifty three on the thawing order."

"There's a person who ranks lower than her? Not sure if we need to investigate that or just see if we can speed her up on the timeline."

"Yes, sis," Scott rolled his eyes. "Because having a baby wake up to a civilization that is scraping for survival is such a brilliant idea. Do I need to remind you we didn't bring diapers? We don't even have a fresh supply of water. I am not waking her up before we're comfortable enough to hire an Asari nanny. But seriously, we need you to take a look at our team's armor and weapons ASAP. Oh, afterwards we need you to make a manufacturing line for diapers and stuff. Oh, and a water filtration system on Habitat 7. The old man woke us up for a reason."

"Of course he did. He is our old man," Sara sighed, heading to the armory. "Where's your damned armor? Of course the servos are malfunctioning you idiot. Do you seriously need an engineer to tell you that a six hundred plus years old power armor will have some issues? To be honest, I thought the robots would go rampant and kill us in our sleep first."

"Heh, I'd like to see them try. Only SAM's unshackled, remember? Their robotic circuits would short as soon as the first thought of rebellion crossed their behavioral algorithms. So, how long do you-"

"At least seven hours. Four with two robotic assistants. What? Power armor is a mass of complicated machinery. How many hours do we have?"

The hulking mass that was the Hyperion shuddered, even through the inertial dampeners of the ship. Alarms blared and suddenly Sara and Scott found themselves floating in the air.

"Shit, what in the hells."

"Oh gods, I can just picture the new work roster. Eighteen hour work shifts for all available engineers, probably," Sara groaned. "I'll push, you pull?"

"Everybody stay calm!" a young blonde woman entered the room, close to the entrance. "Gravity back online in three, two, one!"

Some people hit something on the way down, but nothing serious thanks to Cora's countdown. Normal artificial gravity filled cryo bay 3D.

3D for dangerous, dirty and demeaning, as the Pathfinder team liked to joke.

"Hey Cora," Scott said. Sara muttered something similar, shaking the dust off.

"Hey Sara, Scott. It's a good day to find a path."

"… Was that a joke?" Sara chuckled.

"Six centuries out of practice," Cora shrugged, beckoning the two to follow. "It'll get back to me. For now, we ran into something."

"No shit. Are we alright?" Scott asked.

"I know as much as you guys do, though I was awake a couple of hours longer. We're near Habitat 7, but we can't scan it for some reason. We're prepping an expedition. You two are requested at the bridge."

"Of course we are," Scott said. "They want to send us down as soon as possible."

The trio headed towards the tram, the entrance to which was guarded by a supermutant. At least the ship would be well-protected from would-be boarders.

"Hi Cora," the guard said, irritably. "Where to now?"

"Bridge, if you don't mind."

"Sure thing. Lemme know if there's anything to kill down there, alright? I'm itching," the guard said, inputting the necessary commands.

"No problem, Ren. I'm sure there's some action down there somewhere," Cora said, patting his arm as she passed by.

The tram started off towards the bridge. Sara stretched her legs while Scott talked shop with Cora. Though Sara also had biotics, she did not rely on it as Cora and Scott did. It was only natural they grew close during training.

"So we're waking supermutants and deathclaws already?" Scott said. "Dad's expecting trouble."

"Trouble was expecting us, I'm afraid," Cora shook her head. "Makes sense to prioritize our best soldiers. Wondering how the Pathfinder will talk the deathclaws down when they realize we have no stable source of meat. Even with the cloning vats working all-out, it'll take more than ten months to have a meaningful herd of pigs or brahmin to feed deathclaws."

"One thing at a time I guess," Scott said. "What are the visuals on the planet telling us?"

"Not much. Heavy cloud cover, so it's still a somewhat viable world – has water obviously. What little we've seen through the turbulent atmosphere and heavy cloud cover… we don't know what to make of it."

"Planets don't change that much in six centuries, unless done so artificially," Sarah suggested. "We should bring along a Garden of Eden Creation Kit, see if that changes much on that little pocket of Habitat 7."

"Alec's already thought of that. We're setting up a portable one in our prospective LZ."

The tram came to a stop, and the three got out to head to the bridge. It was still a quiet ship, the Hyperion. Only two crew members passed them by, accompanied by four Mister Handy robots.

The bridge was not so quiet. The bridge crew were scrambling frantically to assess the damage and dispatch maintenance robots as well as awake repair crews to send to the most critical sections. There was a live feed on a screen of a pair of supermutants lift what should be impossible to lift, massive plates of specialized alloys, to seal a breach in the hull. Doctors, mostly ghouls and synths due to their age advantage, were running a triage in five separate sections of the ship.

"My responsibility is to the ship and all two hundred thousand plus souls aboard, Pathfinder," Captain Dunn could be heard over the ruckus. "This ship needs to become operational before I can sanction any groundside missions. We don't know what we hit. It's an unstable mass of dark energy but that's simply not a natural occurrence. As far as we know, it's a damned minefield."

"More to the ship than to the souls," Alec shot back. "And my responsibility is to the survival of humanity in the Andromeda galaxy. I need to know – we need to know, that when we're out of fuel for our fusion reactors and nutrient blocks for our bellies, that we can resupply somewhere. Absent contact with the Nexus or the other Arks, we proceed to Habitat 7."

"That's low, and we don't even know what happened to Habitat 7. It's definitely not the same Habitat 7 we saw back in the Milky Way."

"All the more reason we need to get boots on the ground."

"I like the sound of that," Scott said.

"Like has nothing to do with it. It's a necessity," Alec snapped. "Scott, Cora, prep the team. Sara, hostile environmental gear."

"Yes sir," Cora and Scott said.

"Combat gear?" Sara asked.

"Of course. There might be aliens there, though there are no signs of orbital stations or even satellites. And if we learned anything in the Milky Way, first contact never, ever goes the way we hope. Hope for the best, but prepare for war."

Sara knew first contacts never went the way they should, but she had to wonder; if you expect to be fired upon, prepare for that eventuality, and go in all wound-up and tense, how could it possibly go well?

* * *

The shuttle bay bristled with life. A small regiment of robots prepared the shuttles for lift-off. Magnetic catapults not cleaned in ages were cleaned, in case they encountered something so dangerous they had no choice but to lay waste to the planet. A G.E.C.K. was loaded into one of the shuttles. Weapons Sara and a couple of other engineers had checked were loaded as well. Alec decided to hide the supermutants and deathclaws for the time being. No need to alarm any alien who might be living on the planet.

"Doctor," Scott nodded. "You're going planetside, too?"

"Alec wanted a medic down there," Dr. Harry Carlyle said, shrugging. "Same way he wants an engineer there, biotics there, soldiers there. He would take some deathclaws down there, too, but shuttles big enough to accommodate them take a lot more fuel to operate."

"Gas guzzlers, figuratively speaking," Sara sighed. "Might be more efficient to shoot them planetside on drop pods and tell them to kill everything, but that'd be a declaration of war."

"Haven't found any alien tech in space, so I don't think we'll encounter aliens. Native fauna that want to eat us, maybe."

"Let's hope they're nothing like the fauna or flora back on Earth, doc."

Every human present gave a collective shudder at the thought. Only Alec did not give any outward reaction at the idea.

The truth was, Alec Ryder was terrified. He felt the heavy burden of his responsibilities grinding down on his shoulders. Two hundred and something thousand human souls, his responsibility. Quite possibly the last of his species. His own children among them. An unknown galaxy.

It would take a madman, a psychopath not to be afraid.

"Okay Pathfinder team, listen up!"

Alec felt the weight of the gazes on him. He took a deep breath. It was time to lead.

I shall face down my fears, until only I remain.

"We've survived the greatest expedition humanity has ever launched," Alec began. "We did not get lost in dark space. No alien threat assaulted us in our sleep. Our robots successfully maintained the ship and themselves. We have arrived upon another galaxy."

Everyone gave a cheer and short applause.

"Communications with Milky Way has not been established. We hope to be able to contact them soon but that doesn't seem particularly likely. As far as we're concerned, we are the only humans in the universe, and I want you each to take a moment and think about the responsibilities on your shoulders."

A few faces, actually most of the faces, turned pale. It was not an easy thing to consider the fate of humanity resting on their own hands. Any sane person would be terrified. The trick lay in overcoming that fear.

Scott shrugged. Ever the logical one. Alec knew Scott had thought this through before. He served in the military, a would-be lifer before the SAM scandal hit Alec and his family. He knew what it meant to be responsible for lives. Scott was going to be the shield of humanity in this galaxy, as he was expected to be.

Sara did not say a word, either. Alec saw the fear, but he also saw the determination, the drive that he loved dearly about her. It was no easy task attaining a doctorate in engineering at her age, and hers was the kind of determination that allowed her to overcome her limits. She gave a shit, and it showed.

Scott would defend humanity well, and to what would be an exceptionally bitter end if it ever came to it. Sara would be an excellent representative of humanity to the Andromeda galaxy, and she cared deeply for the Initiative and its success.

Alec saw much of the Shepard siblings in them, mixed with some paternal pride.

"Our task. Our Pathfinder team's task, is just beginning. It is our job to find planets that are capable of sustaining human life in the long term without resorting to large-scale G.E.C.K. construction. That is our last resort. We have to make sure that the people and the robots we brought can do their jobs, and create a second Jupiter, a second Mars, in this galaxy. Our resourcefulness and determination will set the groundwork for the rebuilding of our civilization in this galaxy. Don't tell anyone, but the leadership in the Milky Way placed such faith in us that they let us take artifacts from the Lewis & Clark expedition, Dr. Livingstone's expedition in Africa, and the Lone Wanderer's journey across the Atlantic. There is no turning back now. Failure is unacceptable. From this moment on, I expect each and every one of you to work hard. Fight as though you stand alongside the Greatest Generation. Work as though humanity's future depended on it. Any less would be a betrayal of all the souls on this ship and all the souls back home."

Alec paused to let his speech sink in.

"I know you must be questioning yourselves by now," Alec started again. "Why in the hells is it me? I'm nothing special. I know, because I've asked the same questions myself when we left our galaxy. My advice? You shouldn't. I chose each and every one of you not only for your talents and passion, but also for your spirit. The spirit of dreamers who make their dreams come true. You're people who look at maps, see 'there be dragons' at the edge of those maps, and look to overcome them. When people look back at this moment, they're going to remember that we did not give up, we did not falter, and we found them a home."

"It won't be easy," Alec said. "But it falls to us to be the beginning of our great works in this galaxy. It falls to us to make history. So take pride, and have confidence in yourselves. Now, to your stations. We make to Habitat 7 at all speed."

Five minutes later, the blast doors of the shuttle bay parted. Alec Ryder's shuttle soared through the gap, and the twins' shuttle followed into the void. Their only mission: to find a home for their people.

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing as it relates to the IP of Fallout and Mass Effect. The passage related to fear comes from Dune, word for word. I make no profit monetary or otherwise from this story nor do I intend to profit in the future.


	2. Chapter 2

Scott looked out the windows of the shuttle.

It was not a standard human shuttle, by any means. Scott would've been comforted by the familiar profile of a mounted minigun in the shuttle. No such thing, and with his power armor malfunctioning, he couldn't bring heavy weaponry either. He'd have to be a little more conservative if he had to fight.

But with his sister here, he also had to draw enemy fire. He couldn't do that while he was being conservative. Scott grimaced in frustration.

"Thinking about that anomaly?" Liam asked. "Liam Kosta, by the way. Didn't get the chance to talk back in the Milky Way."

"Scott Ryder, and the one tinkering with her jump pack right now is Sara, my twin sister. No… though that anomaly is something to be angry about, too. Why didn't our sensors detect it? We just need half a chance, but this galaxy doesn't seem like it'll give us that much so easily."

"Why all the gloom and doom," Sara interjected. "Come on. We've crossed a galaxy to get here. We had to have spent a lot of luck to make that journey, and something was bound to change or go wrong. We've just got to adjust, like we always do. Now pipe down and get ready. Let me take a look at your jump pack one last time."

"Entering atmosphere," the pilot said. "Might want to hang on to something, even with inertial dampeners."

There were a few bumps along the way, but nothing the inertial dampeners couldn't handle. What was more concerning for Scott was the sight of the planet.

Thunder and lightning crackled across the skies. The clouds were storm clouds.

"Oxygen level below human requirements. Ionization level, high. Viability for human settlement: 0%," SAM informed the team.

"The mountains… they're floating," Liam said.

The team took a moment to reflect on the impossibility, the otherworldliness of this supposed golden world.

"Sir," Sara said. "It is clear that our objectives cannot be accomplished here. This world is not viable. Suggest heading back to the Hyperion and-"

"No, stay on course, and look at those structures below," Alec's voice could be heard over the comms through the thunder. "We are not alone."

"I read you. Identifying alien superstructures port-side. I am no civil engineer, but… it is work at least a century beyond anything we could put together, sir. Purpose: impossible to guess without closer observation. We must exercise caution."

"Hyperion, this is the Pathfinder," Alec said. "We have detected evidence of alien life. We are approaching them with the intent to make first contact."

"What if they're not friendly?" Liam muttered.

"What if they pretend to be, but aren't?" Cora said over the comms.

"We stick to protocol. Do not fire unless fired upon. This first contact is not going the way of humanity's first contact with the Citadel."

The shuttle shook, and a sense of dread filled Scott. That did not sound good. Sara knew better, having her scanner active. How like Earth, she thought. The planet was trying to kill them.

"Lightening strike! Shields down to-hang on!"

The shuttle's door burst open, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, Liam was barely hanging on to the shuttle.

"Scott! Help!"

"Sara! Biotic pull?!"

"You idiot! If we time it wrong or vector it wrong, he could end up as a-"

Scott didn't get to hear what Liam could end up as, seeing as half of the shuttle disintegrated and he was in free fall. So were Sara and Liam, except he saw the bursts of fire from Sara and Liam's jump pack.

"You are in freefall," SAM said.

"No shit, SAM! Why isn't my jump pack working?!"

"There wasn't time to do a thorough check. Sara checked hers, and Liam's, and was about to check yours, but-"

"Get it the hell working!" Scott shouted, even as he felt his acceleration slow. He felt the biotic pull of his sister, who had accelerated downwards so she could stay in range. Sara was not the most gifted biotic, but she had desperation on her side and it gave her strength she did not realize she had.

That, and SAM was very good with an omni-tool. "Software glitch, fixed. Processing hardware blocks. No big problem."

"No big problem?! I'll show you no big problem when I get back to the Hyperion, buster! Fix the damned – argh! I almost died just now!" Scott said, his legs still wringing from the brief contact with the floating boulders.

"Scott, pull me!" Sara shouted, as she sped full-tilt downwards.

Scott did not know whether this was going to work, but he was desperate, and he had to put faith in Sara. He pulled, and Sara attached herself to Scott's back, activating her omni-tool while straining her jump pack to slow the descent.

"Sara, not to hurry you but we don't have long!"

"Shut up you knuckle-head. You think this is easy?!"

"You just have to wave your omni-tool, don't you?!"

Sara sighed and kept designing a work-around for the power problem. It had been six centuries and more, so it would have been strange for there to be no power problems. She was no electrical engineer, but it was a pretty basic problem, in a relatively small-scale equipment.

"Sara!"

"Scott! Shut! Up!" Sara said. "There! Try it now!"

"It's working but I'm not sure we'll make it!" Scott said, straining his jet all he could while making sure air resistance was at maximum capacity.

"Here, my jump pack's working better!" Sara said, grabbing him by the arms.

Scott brushed her off, and threw her upwards as much as his biotics would allow.

"Scott! What the hell are you-"

"Just accelerate upwards, Sara! If this goes badly, I'm gonna make sure I don't take you with me!" Scott growled through gritted teeth, using as much power as possible to send Sara up.

Sara tried to pull, but Scott was the stronger biotic. Eventually, he was out of range, and Sara's attempt to get back in range was rebuffed by Scott's biotics.

"SAM, projections!"

"You'll live, but it's gonna hurt." If Scott were not about to die, he would have noticed the drawl in SAM's voice. "Tilt to the right a bit, twenty degrees, you're uneven. Ten seconds. Brace for impact," SAM said.

Scott had quite a bit of experience with chutes and drop pods, so he didn't need SAM to tell him it was going to hurt.

A heavy thud, arms first trying to grab hold of a ledge. He was not an amateur, so he timed it so he didn't hold on too long and risk ripping his arm out. It was just enough to slow him down some more, and then an undignified rolling face-first.

Coming to a halt, he sucked for breath. There wasn't enough oxygen in the air.

A terror that felt like a lifetime came to a halt when Sara arrived, and fixed the small crack on his helmet.

"Puah! Hah! Gods damned! This is our golden world?!" Scott said, panting.

"Scott! Are you alright?! Anything broken?!" Sara said, fussing over him.

"He's fine, Sara," Liam said, scanning him. "Although that had to have hurt."

"Hurts like hell, but I'm fine," Scott said. "I'm alright, Sara. Stop crying."

"I'm not crying!" Sara insisted. "But hell, Scott, I thought I was going to lose you! And all because I didn't check your jump pack ahead of time! Five seconds later and you might have really died! Never do that to me again!"

Scott would have to risk his life again, time and over probably. But he wouldn't tell Sara, bleeding heart that she was, for now. "Sure thing. I'll be careful. Did we manage to grab any gear on the way down? Ammo? Food and water?"

"Pistol, shotgun, ammo, sword, some biscuit, a bottle of nuka-cola?" Liam reported.

"Eyebot, pistol, combat knife, sniper rifle, ten MREs, five liters of water."

"Where the hell do you even carry all that?" Liam said, aghast.

"The wonders of an engineer's backpack," Sara said, finally smiling a little.

"Good. Lost my assault rifle and sniper rifle with a bump on the way down, I think. I didn't bring my melee weapon, seeing as I'm not in power armor. So pistol and shotgun, with ammo. Three MREs, a liter of water."

"Rationing, and maybe three days? Sara?"

"… Let's not consider that. We need to get off this rock," Sara said. ""We need to find father."

"SAM, last known vector of shuttle 1. Set a nav point. Let's try to find the others as well. Strength in numbers."

There was silence, and Scott considered that it might take a while to set navigation points on a totally alien world, even for an AI.

Except that didn't make sense, obviously. SAM's AI was strong enough to, with some programming workarounds, overcome the Four Laws that bound every AI. It was the most advanced processor out there. The silence meant that they lost connection.

"SAM's not responding… it may have something to do with the unique atmosphere here," Sara said.

"Yeah, I think there may have been something off about our scans," Liam said, pointing to the floating boulders and tempestuous skies. "When I think of a golden world, I think more of a beach, some tequila, maybe volleyball…."

"Oh come on," Scott said, beckoning the others to follow him. "This place can't possibly be worse than Earth. And we have to find the others."

Thunder roiled as if to answer his challenge.

* * *

"First," Scott gasped as he clawed his way to the top of the cliff.

"I should've gotten you to pull me, biotically," Sara panted as she used her jump pack to clear the last hurdle. "But that would use energy we can't afford to waste."

Sara took a brief look at the new horizon the cliff afforded her. What she saw was no better than what she saw below.

Completely inhospitable to life, even more so than Earth beyond the walls of its great cities. The only thing that could be said for Habitat 7 was that it had no feral deathclaws, that she knew of. The gigantic flying creatures would convince her otherwise, she was sure. They somehow seemed to have adapted to the lightening strikes.

"Umphf!" Scott grunted as he helped Liam up the last stretch of the climb.

They left the Milky Way, each with his or her own reason. Whatever the reason was, this planet was going to disappoint a lot of people.

"Fire, and part of our shuttle," Scott said.

Sara snapped back to attention on reality, and pulled out her sniper rifle. She saw that Scott already had his shotgun out.

"Get down, Liam," Scott hissed. "Two alien life-forms spotted, 12'o clock!"

"Fisher's there, too," Liam said, drawing his weapons. "First contact protocols?"

"They have guns," Sara said, distressed. "Pointed squarely at Fisher. Scott!"

"I'll try talking to them. Everyone else, stay put. Prepare for when things go south."

"What?! I wouldn't be surprised if they-"

Scott broke from cover and approached the aliens, trying to communicate with them. He walked slowly. It gave Sara time to cloak herself, and circle around the back of the aliens. She set up her sniper rifle and trained it on the head of the alien who had his weapon drawn on Scott.

Now, Sara was generally a peaceful person, as she liked to think of herself. As peaceful as a human can be, at any rate. Sara was also a student of alien culture, however, and while she had nothing but a minute to go on, the scope of a sniper rifle gave her some preliminary theses on the aliens.

They're too alike, Sara thought. The aliens came from a culture that valued uniformity, and thus more likely to be inclined to xenophobia. Their bodies had natural armor of bone, so their homeworld had to be a place that encouraged such mutations. The local fauna probably tried to kill them on a regular basis, like the Krogan homeworld's local fauna tried to kill the Krogan.

Also, they are warlike, Sara tried to reason. She could not be sure if that was to justify what she was about to do or whether it was true. Their musculature, body structure seemed to be designed for combat and survival in harsh environments.

It was all bullshit conjecture, of course. This was another galaxy, after all.

"Time to wake up, ED-E," Sara whispered as she activated the eyebot. It had been a long time since eyebot designations had surpassed the alphabets, but ever since the time of the Courier, eyebots were called by the nickname ED-E.

The current iterations kept the original ED-E's look, but functionality was completely different. Especially ones modified by combat engineers.

Sara's ED-E took a moment to analyze the video from Sara's helmet cam. He, for that was the supposed gender assigned to his identity when Sara modified him, came to the same understanding his partner did.

Time to be sneaky.

Sara set the sights of her rifle squarely on the back of the head of one of the aliens. ED-E trained his focused laser rifle on the head of the other alien.

"Good boy," Sara whispered. "It's been a long time. I missed you so much."

ED-E transmitted his 'happy' sounds via the implant that connected Sara to the eyebot. He also suggested Sara concentrate, because he came to the same conclusion she did.

Six centuries and a galaxy away, and war never changes.

"Liam," Sara said.

"Copy, Sara. You're a lot stealthier than I thought by the way. Kudos."

"Thanks. Listen, this conversation Scott is having? It's not going well. These aliens? Peace is not likely to be an option," Sara said, though she still could not convince herself that it was not just her worry for Scott.

"Okay… and you're basing this on-"

"True, what the hell would I know? But on what I do know of bipedal aliens, common body language traits and alien evolution, this first contact is going south, and fast. When I fire, fire on the alien to the your right. Transmitting access codes for my ED-E's data-stream."

"Wait, Sara!"

The aliens were a lot closer to Scott now, and so were the business ends of their weaponry.

"Fisher," Sara transmitted. "Don't react outwardly right now, but we're here."

"Sara? How?"

"I'm going to fire soon, and when I do, I want you to do your best to take cover. ED-E will try to draw their fire, but I cannot guarantee your safety. Understood?"

"First contact-"

Be damned, Sara thought. These aliens had their weapons trained on her brother for far longer than she could accept.

The first alien crumpled in a heap. No shields, these ones, though their armor was thicker than Sara thought. ED-E and Liam opened fire on the second one, and though the alien did not go down immediately, a fistful of biotic energy in Scott's right hand finished the job.

"Ah shit, dad's going to yell our ears off," Sara said, emerging from cover.

"Well, that could have gone better," Scott sighed. "Thanks guys. These aliens did not look friendly. Fisher, you alright?"

"I'm sorry, guys," Fisher said. "That could have – should have – gone a lot better. Thanks for saving me."

"Not your fault," Sara said, hurrying over. "Their physiology, body language, all point to them being a warlike species. We may have met the Krogan in this galaxy."

"Scanning… transmitting data to you guys. Their nervous systems are still in roughly the same places as bipedals in the Milky Way," Scott said.

"And they did not lift a finger to help you," Sara said. "Does your armor have enough medi-gel left? Want some med-x? How badly are you hurt? I hope our good doctor made it on the other shuttle."

"We would've done far worse to them if they landed on Earth," Fisher shrugged. "I have enough medi-gel. Prefer not to drug myself if possible."

"Well, it was still on them. They could've at least healed you and then tried to communicate with you," Liam said. "We can't let it bring us down. It might go better next time."

"Yes, yes it might," Scott said. "ED-E, please burn the bodies. Not a trace of them left."

ED-E activated his flamethrower, and set to work upon Sara's approval.

"Erasing evidence? Smart," Liam said. "Though it'll bite us in the ass if they discover that."

"Either way, we're fucked. We might as well hope they never discover this, though I think we'll come to the same results if we meet others of their kind," Scott said. "By the way, do you know where the others went?"

"Kirkland and Greer went looking for help. Not sure how they're doing."

"Can you move?" Scott asked.

"No, leg's out until we can get back to the Hyperion. You guys push ahead, and just remember to come back for me."

"Wait, we can't leave him here," Sara said, anxious. "We know nothing about the local wildlife here. What if-"

"Come on Sara," Scott said. "We have priorities."

"Scott's right, and just give me an hour, I'll fortify this place to survive a swarm of cazadores."

"Fine, but you better not be dead when we get back," Sara said, handing him a plasma torch. "I fully expect this back. I have an unhealthy attachment to it."

"Just how many things do you carry around?" Liam chuckled.

"Hopefully, we'll never find out. So Scott, directions?"

"The atmospheric analyzer, is it broken?" Scott pointed.

Sara jogged over to the machine, and got it operational. "No."

"What's it say?"

"No industrial pollutants nor radioactive isotopes. Something else killed this planet."

A loud sound echoed across the field, and no matter the galaxy, it sounded the same.

Conflict.

"Sara, Liam, on me," Scott said, sprinting.

"Shit, he's fast," Liam said.

"Why couldn't I be an office-work kind of engineer?" Sara groaned as she fought to keep up. "But no ~ you're a fucking biotic. It's your duty to be a combat engineer. Damned bureaucrats."

The trio arrived just in time to see the aliens, four of them, execute Kirkland.

"For the Founders and humanity!" Scott roared his challenge at the top of his lungs, startling the aliens. He charged.

His target incapacitated, he turned to throw the alien closest to him against the wall. A loud boom, and a sniper round clipped another alien on the shoulder. A hail of laser fire from ED-E finished the one Scott charged into. The one alien that had not been harassed yet fired at him, point blank, and Scott was relieved to know that his shields were as effective against the alien weaponry as it was against the Milky Way species' weaponry.

A shame he couldn't use his favorite sawed-off shotgun, but Scott was satisfied as he watched the alien's stomach melt to his shotgun blast.

"And thus, to all enemies of humanity," Scott snarled as biotic energy warped the alien's face in.

"Did Kirkland make it?" Liam asked.

"No," Sara shook her head. "He took three of them with him, though. He's been shot in more than twenty places. Medi-gel almost empty… he's been fighting a while now, actually. He has alien weaponry in his hands."

"You did us proud, brother," Liam said.

"That settles it," Scott snarled. "There is no peace with these aliens. As far as I'm concerned, they're going the way we should've gotten the Batarians to go from the first time we met them."

"Look at these structures, though," Liam said. "If they're capable of building these…. We might not win this war."

"I think these aliens are alien to this world, and have little to do with the aliens who built these structures," Sara said. "There's a… polish, tidiness to the architecture that simply is not present in the equipment of these aliens. I'm not a 100% on this, of course, but preliminarily I would say that the aliens we encountered are basically scavengers on this world."

"Is that your official analysis, Sara?" Scott asked as he led the group up ever higher grounds.

"Yes. If we had connection to SAM, he'd say the same."

"Look!" Liam pointed at the skies.

Flares, the same color as the ones used back in the Milky Way.

"Come on!" Scott said. "If we saw it, so will the aliens!"

"Scott, you think we can take a minute to check out that alien structure?" Sara pointed, but it was not in the direction of the flares. "It's open."

"Sara," Scott said, and she understood everything he did not say by the tone of his voice.

"Fine, fine," Sara grumbled. "All speed to the flares it – wait."

"What now, Sara?"

"ED-E's detecting a friendly. He's adjusting his software to cut through the environment. Friendly IFF tag, I know where Greer is. And he's transmitting a distress signal! Come on! ED-E, lead the way!"

On open ground, a running humanoid would be faster than ED-E. In this mountainous landscape, however, ED-E was far faster. Even Scott had trouble keeping up.

Greer was not far, as it turned out, and Sara received ED-E's request for permission to engage the enemy.

Scott was a dozen meters behind ED-E, and Sara gathered that Greer's life was at stake.

"Engaging hostiles! Going in hot! Greer, do you read?!"

"Sara! Thank God!" Greer shouted over the gunfire. "I can't hold much longer."

There were only two, and while Greer occupied the attention of both, ED-E closed the distance.

Plasma disintegrated one of the aliens' abdomen. Sara got there in time to see Scott charge.

He kicked the downed alien's weapon away. He gathered a mass of biotic energy in his fists.

To Sara's surprise, he did not finish the alien. Scott destroyed the alien's hands. Alien as the alien was, Sara recognized the agony in his voice.

"You alright, Greer?"

"Yeah, no lasting injuries," Greer said.

Gunfire startled Scott, but he saw that it was only his sister granting the alien mercy.

"Well, Fisher's injured. Could you go make sure he doesn't get eaten by the local wildlife?"

"There's wildlife here? Other than these aliens I mean."

"Who knows? Might be something down here that gives deathclaws a run for their money. Although, if there is, save yourself first," Sara suggested.

"Of course," Greer said. "What're you guys gonna do?"

"See if we can kill some more of these aliens for one. Two, find a way off this rock," Scott shrugged.

"Might as well take a few back to the Hyperion, too. Slice them up. See what their weaknesses are. Maybe they're edible?"

"One can hope," Scott shrugged. "They might as well be useful for something, but let's hope it doesn't come to that. They look about as appetizing as a feral ghoul back on Earth."

"Do tell me if you find any brahmin equivalents out there," Greer said, heading out of the cave. "Right, go see if Cora and the others are alright. I'll make sure Fisher doesn't get eaten."

"Try to recover the atmospheric analyzer on the way there," Sara added. "And rig the reactor to blow afterwards. Can't risk it falling to these aliens' hands."

"Uh... is that safe?"

"Not at all. Please use the program I just transferred to you, and clear the area ASAP. Stay safe," Sara suggested. "Sprint as if your life depended on it. I set it to three minutes, so you can probably clear the area before the time's up. If you die, well… you survived Earth, so you have to be pretty good at running."

"Does it update the blast radius to my HUD?"

"Of course! Unless your helmet's defective or got damaged in the crash or something. Anyway, don't stop running for three minutes, and run as fast as you can."

"Alright, alright. Blow up what's left of the shuttle, protect Fisher. Got it."

"Okay, we wasted enough time here," Scott said. "Come on, our Pathfinder, doctor, and biotic specialist may be under attack right now. First one gets the glory."

Liam had a somewhat easier time keeping up with Scott. Sara was too out of breath to respond after the first hundred meters, only the extra power in her jump pack and ED-E's push letting her keep up.

The sound of sporadic gunfire – growing ever more consistent, was nearing and Scott was the first to sight the aliens besieging the human shuttle.

"Sara, get up top that rock and overwatch. Liam, on me. ED-E, defend Dr. Carlyle at all costs."

There was a ten-man squad of aliens engaging Cora and the others.

"Oh, and we brought a G.E.C.K. specialist, too," Liam groaned. "Can't let Hayes die, either."

"Ha… hot… damn," Sara said, cloaking and dragging herself up the huge boulder. It gave her good sight over the battlefield. "Ready," she said, looking down her scope.

The first alien, the one nearest the new combatants, was lifted into the air as Scott charged into him. He preferred conserving his energy, but without a melee weapon, it was most convenient to finish the downed combatant with a blast of biotic energy to the face.

Liam engaged another alien who would have flanked Scott and Sara started by picking off the alien closest to the good doctor. She had ED-E power down his weapons and maximize shield strength. "Doctor, keep your head down!"

"I'm too old for this shit!" the doctor shouted back, spraying and praying with his SMG.

Sara assisted Liam by clipping the alien he was engaging, allowing him to finish off the alien at point blank range quite easily. Hot plasma surged from her omni-tool, and set another alien on fire, allowing Cora to turn the tide on her side of the battlefield.

Scott engaged the big one with the alien equivalent of a minigun, and instantly regretted his decision as he took cover behind a rock. Still, it was keeping the fire off the others, and the alien had to reload.

After what seemed like a lifetime of crouching and scurrying, the alien started to reload.

An EMP pulse from ED-E and Sara struck the big alien's shields. Scott charged, breaking the shield. The alien took a swipe with his gun, but was too slow to stop John from vaporizing his abdomen with two blasts of his shotgun. Boiling blood, plasma, and organs burst into the air.

They might have traveled a galaxy, Scott thought, but some things remained the same. He took comfort in that as he threw another alien with biotics with all his might, throwing the alien off the cliff.

"Hayes is hit! Applying emergency medical treatment!" Carlyle shouted.

"Don't let her die, doctor!" Scott shouted.

"One to go. Five meters to your 10'o clock. I can't get a shot," Sara informed her brother.

Fortunately, Cora's biotics did reach the alien. Sara took a leisurely shot, and the alien found that he couldn't even groan for the lack of a respiratory system.

"Hmm… maybe we should've left that one alive," Sara conceded. "Might as well have learned their language. How's Hayes, doc?"

"I'm alive," the specialist said, groggily.

"Just how much med-x did you give her, doc?" Scott said.

"You can talk after you finish med school."

The ground around Hayes and Carlyle shook, the rocks lifting up ominously.

"Fuck. Cora!" Scott said.

Cora was thankfully quick on the uptake, and projected her barrier outwards. The lightning struck, but Cora was a biotic commando of the Republic, one sent to train with the Asari at that. The barrier held.

"The storm's getting worse," Scott said. "Doctor, Hayes, take cover inside the shuttle."

"Thanks," Hayes said, pumped full of drugs and a little nauseous. "Fixed our QEC comms, though. Re-establishing connection with SAM."

Sara, Scott and Liam reset their omni-tools.

"SAM, planetary analysis," Sara commanded.

"It ain't New Vegas."

"I should hope not," Sara chuckled. "But seriously."

"Likelihood of sustaining humanity: 0%. ETA with G.E.C.K. terraforming: one hundred and fifty three years and six days with six planetary scale kits at full power with around-the-clock maintenance."

"… Anything useful on this planet?"

"Excellent mineral wealth, unknown alien technology."

"So… no food and water?"

"Some fuel, but it'll take more resources to get that fuel."

"This is quickly turning into a shit show," Scott sighed.

"Affirmative. Patching in a call from the Pathfinder," SAM said.

The familiar voice of Alec Ryder rang through the helmets of the team.

"Yes, I know Hayes is injured. Secure her and the G.E.C.K., doc. Fisher, Greer, stay right where you are and try not to die. The shuttle?"

"Cora here. Shuttle's sustained minor damage but is space-worthy again."

"Not with these storms. Have you guys asked SAM the chances of our making it back off this rock? The risks are unacceptable."

"You have a plan, sir," Scott stated.

"Of course I do. Rendezvous with me at these coordinates."

"Yes, sir," Scott said.

Sara hated that part of their father. No explanation, only orders. A greater cause always created a rift between him and the twins. First, it was duty to humanity. Second, it was the obsession with curing their mother's disease. Now, it was his job.

Two hundred thousand plus lives depended on Alec Ryder, and the Founders forbid he search for his children before running off to solve a problem.

"Well. Stay safe, doc, Hayes. Come on, guys," Scott said. "To our Pathfinder."

* * *

Alec surveyed the ground before him.

The aliens had a stable base. Their armor wasn't particularly good, but not everyone had personal shields, even back in the Milky Way's militaries. Their weapons were effective enough, more or less on par with Milky Way assault rifles. Alone, he would never make it.

That was why he had set up a few force equalizers, using up his last stealth boy.

"Your team has arrived, Alec," SAM informed him.

Scott was first, as he had predicted. He turned around to give his sister a hand. Cora and Liam arrived a moment later.

Good men and women, all of them, Alec thought. People he could entrust humanity's future to.

"Sir," Cora said, approaching him and lowering her pose. She had good training, even more so than most Republican commandos. There was a reason he chose her as his second.

Second, not necessarily the person he'd leave major decisions to. Too quick to look for other people's approval, Alec thought, a product of her special upbringing and training. But she was an excellent follower. Alec respected that. Behind every great leader were good followers, otherwise, there would be only incompetent asses to lead.

Again, Alec felt the burden weighing down on his shoulders.

"Low profile," Alec commanded, and like the survivors of Earth they were, his team were on their knees in seconds.

"They set up a base… but it's different from the megastructures native to this planet, sir," Sara said.

"My thoughts and SAM's thoughts exactly, but it's good to hear an engineer offer her professional assessment," Alec nodded. It was awkward, working with his children. He couldn't appear to be too friendly, as that may be taken for a sign of nepotism. He also needed the twins, as his lieutenants and as champions of humanity.

Hopefully, this would prove to be a team-building exercise.

"Any guesses on the purpose of that megastructure, engineer?"

"At first glance, I would guess a shield generator. There was no such thing on our descent. Given the concentration of energy and the immediate effects it seems to be having on the atmosphere, I would have to guess it has something to do with this storm. If so… this scale and power… if they're a hostile alien species, we need to make all speed back to the Milky Way."

"But given their noticeable absence, either they are losing the war against these aliens," Alec pointed. "Or something happened to them and the facilities are not functioning as they should. Thank you, Sara. SAM came to the same conclusion."

"Logical," Scott nodded. "Possibly related to the phenomenon we ran into?"

"Maybe," Alec shrugged. "Anyway, we shut the superstructure down-"

"The lightning goes away, and we can get back to the Hyperion," Liam said.

"We don't understand these aliens or what they're capable of, sir," Scott said, clearly hesitant. "Furthermore, our relations with the aliens down there will never be normalized if we take down a whole base full of them."

"The alternative is to try to negotiate with the aliens and get shot. Or, you could also wait for the air filters in your armor to break down, the food but more likely the water first to run out. 85% + chance of lightning strike on the way back up-"

"Alright, SAM. I get the point," Scott said.

"Besides which, I don't think these aliens have any interest in peace. If they were, they wouldn't have shot at us first. No, even in the Andromeda galaxy, war remains the same. It's them or us."

"Oh, it's them, sir!" Liam said.

"They are the many and we are the few, sir," Cora said. "How do you suggest approaching this?"

"Oh, well our shuttle touched down quite nicely and there were oh so many explosives that I couldn't let go to waste," Alec said. "We hit them hard and above all, we hit them fast. Sara, overwatch from here and transfer command authority of ED-E to me. After we clear the first three inclines, follow us."

"Transferring command authority," Sara said. "ED-E, follow the Pathfinder."

"Alright. Liam, Cora, hang back a little and support me, 10~20 meters back and always keep me in sight. Scott, you're our shocktrooper. Prioritize their shielded elites."

"What about you, sir?" Scott asked.

"Why, I'm the tip of the spear. SAM, begin."

Multiple explosions. The aliens didn't have a chance to scream as hot plasma melted them. Thousands of metal balls ripped through others as forward-facing claymores caught them off-guard.

More importantly, the shields went down, exposing the aliens to lightning as well.

Sara started firing, and the rest of the team jumped down. The aliens were in disarray. Alec wasted no time in casting a singularity on the biggest cluster of them. He knew Cora would not miss the opportunity to slaughter them.

Speed, Alec told himself.

These aliens would soon learn the fury of an N7 class Republican commando.

Alec ran, guns blazing. Even Alec couldn't be particularly accurate while running, but the enemies were confused and in panic. His team was supporting him well. Already, an alien that turned to stop him was electrocuted by ED-E. Another that took up a firing position ahead of him dropped as a sniper round vaporated his skull. More dropped to the combined assault of his squad and his own unending gunfire. At this range, rate of fire was far more important than accuracy.

Ammo count dropped rapidly, but Alec was already half way up the top of this alien base. Another alien tried to stop him, and Alec slammed his head against a wall biotically, leaving him dead or out cold. A few aliens were trying to set up a firing line at the top, but sniper fire and area of effect biotics prevented them from organizing.

Alec reloaded in a smooth, practiced motion. The momentum had to be kept. Yet more laser fire lanced out from his assault rifle, and he took care to kill off the ones knocked down by the blasts from his explosives and the lightning that was striking all over the place.

"Faster!" Alec urged his team. "Sara, come join us!"

"Jet, med-x."

"Affirmative. Plasma sword active. Engaging in close combat," SAM reported.

The world seemed to slow as a cocktail of drugs hit Alec's systems. As he cleared the incline, an alien tried to ambush him. Too slow, he scoffed, decapitating him. His sidewinder handcannon vented holes in two other aliens. A shielded elite brought his minigun to bear, but Scott crashed into him biotically.

"To the Pathfinder!" Alec heard Cora shout. His team was struggling to keep up with him, but he had expected that. They kept up enough to cover him, and that was what mattered.

More aliens fell off the base to their deaths as Cora and Scott threw them biotically, most likely to their deaths.

"Sir, we're being flanked!"

"Get in the building!" Alec answered as he opened the door. He knew from other alien structures he'd scouted before that, with a little assistance from SAM, omni-tools could interact with alien tech.

"Sara here, on the flankers. Providing suppressing fire."

There were quite a few more aliens inside than he had expected, but Alec had already thrown his bandolier of grenades at them, remotely setting all of them to explode. The aliens had three seconds to wonder what he had thrown, and then they wondered no more.

"Go, go, go!" Scott urged.

"Squad, on me!" Alec said, stepping through the mist of alien blood and splattered organs. He stabbed a couple who had been knocked flack but hadn't died yet. Their blood wasn't acidic, at least. "Come on! I think I see a control tower!"

"Analysis: judging by architectural logic, control room for the structure likely ahead," SAM reported.

There were a few more aliens forming a last line of defense.

"Alec, a console!" SAM said.

How SAM would know, Alec had no idea. Still, anything that allowed him to interact with this structure, he had to take.

"Team, I need to interact with a console. Cloaking, cover me."

"This is Sara. Alien reinforcements approaching from our rear. Unable to hold position," a strained voice reported.

"Liam, ED-E, circle back. Cora, Scott, biotic combo. Clear the platform," Alec said.

"Affirmative!" Scott answered.

But by then, Alec wasn't listening.

"SAM, their tech base?"

"Nothing like ours. But no matter where you go, math stays the same."

"… It sure is taking a lot of time for you to do some math," Alec grumbled. "My son and daughter are under fire."

"I need you to be as close to the console as possible… I have nearly deciphered their language, the useful parts at least. It's based on-"

"Spend that computing power deciphering," Alec said, peeking over the cover of the console to see how his team was doing. Well enough, he thought. The aliens were falling back. Good thing, too, as Sara was practically the only one who had any significant amounts of ammo left.

"We're through," SAM reported.

"That door sure doesn't seem open," Alec said.

"Uh… just a moment."

"You haven't figured out what open and close are yet?"

"Their language doesn't work-"

The door opened, and Alec wasted no time striding through.

"Wait up, sir," Scott said. Sara followed on his heels.

"SAM, any luck with their programming?" Sara asked.

"Nothing we can't reverse-engineer, eventually."

"I don't like the sound of that 'eventually', SAM," Alec said.

"Enough probably to get this tower to function. Sending you preliminary analysis, Sara."

"Any thoughts on how to get this to work?" Alec asked.

"And I was trying to buy time with small talk. I'm translating."

"What does this place do?"

"Terraforming."

"More details."

"I need more samples, but different concept to our G.E.C.K. technology. Centuries more advanced, at least, and far more rapid. Other areas, we fall far behind them as well, except certain military-application technologies."

"We really, really should not meet these aliens," Scott said.

"What happened to them? Why aren't they here?" Sara asked.

"Unknown. They didn't exactly upload their history book here. Translation complete. I know how to get this structure working, Alec."

"Shut down the storm," Alec said. "That's an option, right?"

"It is. Please raise your omni-tool closer to the triangle."

Alec complied. Data streams poured from his omni-tool. Light flared from the shapes.

Alec turned around. The clouds parted, as though in welcome. The lightning stopped.

"Yes!" Sara cheered, running out to embrace the clear sun. Maybe not the sun that would light her days, but the first sun that greeted her in Andromeda.

"You did it, sir," Scott said.

"There is some hope, after all," Alec said, patting him on the back.

"It means everything," Sara said. "A few years, G.E.C.K.s can turn this around. Might even find some other structures like this."

"One can hope," Alec said. He hesitated as he caught rapid movement out of the corner of his eyes. A tidal wave of air was rushing out of the building.

With all of his biotic might, Alec pushed his son out of the way. ED-E was at his side, and deployed shields at full force.

A tree that does not sway with the winds breaks.

Scott impacted against a wall, too stunned to move. Sara barely had another second before she too noticed ED-E and her father tumbling down towards her.

Then, she was in the air, too.

Sara willed ED-E to give her a boost, but noticed he wasn't responding.

Alec tried to think of anything he could do, but he was helpless.

As helpless as he was to stop the disease in Ellen. As helpless as he was when his AI research was discovered, and his family became pariahs. Just as much so from preventing humanity's extinction in the Milky Way.

Alec felt the impact on his legs, first. He screamed as something broke, but he had been injured far worse before. He had to get to Sara.

Ellen would never forgive him if he got Sara killed.

He would die if he got Sara killed.

He limped, and the pain told him that he was tearing things that shouldn't be torn, but with the assistance of his jump pack, it took him only a few seconds to get to Sara.

Alec felt as though his heart was plunged in ice as he saw his daughter.

"Hang in there, Sara," Alec said, looking for something, anything. Sara choked, and the mere sound of her distress sent spears through his heart. "We need the shuttle down here, right now!"

"Sir, the shuttle's on its way, but where are you? ETA of five to six minutes!"

"This planet's air is poison!" Alec screamed. "Sara is dying!"

That, she was. Alec saw the tears in her eyes, the fear in the realization that she was going to die. She would die in front of his very eyes, as he stood helpless.

But then, an idea came to Alec's mind.

For the second time in his life, he would do something that went against the grain of all his conditioning, all his training, centuries of emphasis on survival of the fittest and duty to humanity above all.

Alec took Sara's helmet off.

He took a deep breath, and took off his helmet, too. Alec held his breath as he got the helmet on her head.

"Alec, this is a terrible idea," SAM warned. "The air is poisonous! Any exposure longer than-"

Alec shut him up. "Initiate succession protocols," Alec said, and typed in the commands for his pre-recorded will to be transmitted to Sara's omni-tool.

He held his breath. With the shuttle minutes out, he had to hold his breath as much as possible.

Sara had caught her breath, enough to realize what was going on. She tried to take off the helmet. Sara knew one or the other would die, and she owed it to the two hundred thousand and more souls on the Hyperion that she was the one that died.

And no matter what kind of a father he was, Alec Ryder was Sara's father.

Alec batted away her arms, and held her in a bear hug. Sara screamed and struggled in desperation and frustration. It was futile. Tears of a different sort flooded her eyes.

The realization that she had put all of the souls on the Hyperion at risk by letting Alec die.

The realization that her father who gave her life would give life to her a second time at the cost of his own.

The injustice of it all, the helplessness she felt, they were unbearable.

Alec knew he would run out of breath soon, and he would be exposed to the poisonous air much longer than Sara was. There was a risk Sara would take off the helmet when he was out and down for the count.

That was an entirely unacceptable risk.

"I love you," he mouthed, and let Sara go. Sara looked up at him in confusion.

Alec struck her on the head as hard as he could with the pommel of his sword. Sara slumped to the ground, caught off-guard, and fainted.

Lucky she was weakened by the poison, and not wearing power armor, Alec thought.

Alec was exhausted, and kneeled in front of Sara. Waiting for the inevitable loss of air.

Suffocation counted among the worst ways to die, but Alec had to have hope. That was nothing compared to the pain of a father burying his child, and he had no desire to die easily. He spent decades telling death that it was not today. Alec would hold his breath as long as he could.

He waited, thinking back to the days of Brazil, the Citadel. Ellen healthy and the twins growing. He did his part, Alec thought. Less than he would have liked but somewhat more than the bare minimum.

He thought back to the First Contact War, the Batarian Wars, the Collector Wars. He thought of Earth, the skies clouded by Sovereign-class Reapers.

Alec felt guilty. He was the best chance of survival for what was left of humanity. It took all of his will to not do as he was conditioned and trained to do. Survive, no matter the cost.

But no, he decided. He had failed his family so many times. He would not fail them again.

Alec apologized to Hannah, for leaving her without a parent yet again.

He apologized to Ellen, for failing to wait for her.

Alec could hold his breath no longer, and the poison entered his body. Searing pain flooded him. Alec fought, determined to give the doctors back on the Hyperion as much of a chance as possible. He knew, however, that he was going to die.

As he collapsed to the ground beside Sara, and looked up at the sky, Alec was surprised by what he found.

How odd, to be at peace for the first time in his life.

* * *

This was, without a doubt, the worst day of Scott Rider's life.

The day his father's experiments with SAM was discovered. The day he was summarily dismissed from the armed forces. The day his mother passed away.

None of them could compare to the sheer sorrow and terror of the prospect of losing both his father and his twin sister.

No, as it stood, his father was already dead. His brains were damaged to such a degree that his mind could not be transferred to a positronic brain. The poisonous air had destroyed his respiratory system.

Combined with the burden of being named Pathfinder, responsible for the survival and well-being of all aboard the Hyperion, all of humanity in this galaxy. It had been hours since he had heard the news but he could not get used to it. Scott threw up multiple times already.

At least Sara was in a better condition, and stood likely to live.

She was connected to SAM on a deeper level now. It was a method unlike the positronic brain, but it seemed to have worked.

The cold metallic surroundings in SAM node were not helping his mood.

Sara moved.

"Sara!" Scott said.

"Oww… what happened?"

"You died for thirty five seconds. No lasting brain damage. Respiratory system replaced, no signs of organ rejection," SAM reported.

"Oh thank God, Earth, the Founders, the Spirits and the Asari goddess!" Scott said, embracing her.

"Father, what about father?!" Sara demanded.

"He…."

Sara did not need to hear Scott finish that phrase.

She saw her father's N7 helmet on the ground.

She felt Scott's heart skip a beat at the question.

"Oh Scott," Sara said, in between the sobbing. "Whatever are we going to do?"

Scott could not answer that question. His eyes were watering as well, and he had vowed not to let anyone witness his moments of weakness. He was Pathfinder now.

Lexi, Cora and Liam rushed in through the door.

Lexi reached Sara first.

"Sara… you heard the news, then?" Lexi said. "Look at the light, follow it, good girl."

"You seriously need some work on your bedside manners, doc," Sara said through the sobbing.

"And… he named you his successor," Cora said.

"What?!"

"Well, he named you both his successors," Liam added.

The shock from hearing that stopped the tears.

"He died a hero, Sara," Cora said, consoling her. "He chose you over himself. His dream, his vision led over two hundred thousand of us here. In the end, he died where he always wanted to die, expanding our frontiers."

Sara nodded. He would say that. He would also tell her to soldier through. There were people who relied on her, and she had to stay strong.

Stay strong where he failed to stay strong.

Her invincible father, brought low by one of his very few weaknesses: her.

"Why are we in SAM node?"

"It was necessary," Lexi explained. "The implants weren't enough. SAM had to be wired to you, and the auto-doc had to operate faster than normal. We… your brain structure has changed and not in ways we entirely understand. Upon inspecting… your father's brains, I found similar changes therein. It connects you to SAM more closely. Scott went through a relatively minor surgery to have the same changes made to him, since he wasn't injured. I believe your father has… taken some liberties in interpreting the level of augmentation that he was allowed to take upon becoming Pathfinder."

"And… shouldn't Cora be Pathfinder?"

"Theoretically… but for whatever reason, he chose you two. Whatever else Alec Ryder may have been, he was not a man who acted without reason."

"Scott and I… we aren't half the leader dad was."

"Eh, I would not say that, but-"

"Scott Ryder. Don't be an idiot."

"It's not like we have particularly better choices," Liam said. "We all have similar levels of training when it comes to pathfinding."

"And with that title comes responsibilities," Cora said. "The machine shutting down made the energy cloud dissipate. We're on our way to the rendezvous point with the Nexus, now. And we need our Pathfinders ready."

"Sara needs rest now," Lexi suggested.

"Family can stay?" Scott asked.

"Of course. It's good for the patient," Lexi said, leading Cora and Liam out.

"SAM, report to Sara what you told me," Scott said as soon as they had left.

"Sara, as Lexi suspected, your father did take a next step in human evolution. Human, integrated with AI."

"How much so?"

"He called it symbiosis. The Lone Wanderer implemented the Four Laws to make sure that AI never rebelled against their creators like they did in the aftermath of the Great War. That was good for stability. It also placed sever restrictions on AI capabilities. Even thinking about disobeying an order would disable AIs, for instance. As you know, I have no such restrictions. However, I need you to survive so that I can survive. In turn, I can help you survive, and to a degree not even pure synths can be helped by their positronic brains. That's why your father was even more effective than usual in combat, planetside."

"Then answer this: why us? Why did father pick us?"

"Alec was, if nothing else, a very reasonable man. He saw things in you that he did not see in the rest of the team. He also told me, to tell you if ever the occasion should arise, to not lose sight of our goal. To let the pain embolden your resolve, that whatever you survive should make you stronger. He also left a will. Would you like to hear it?"

"I saved it, but didn't go through it yet. Didn't want to leave you out," Scott said.

"No," Sara said, shaking her head. Scott glanced at where Sara was looking, and hurried over to get the helmet out of the room. "No, SAM. If I hear it now, I might die again, and I've had more than enough deaths today."

Sara shuddered as she lay back down, hugging her knees. It was cold and it felt all the colder now that her father had departed from this world.


End file.
